Iron County register., 1887-02-24
The CARNIVAL SEASON.


New -Orieans-The Annual Pageant oi
the Knights of Momus-Aliegorical Le-
gendary and Historical Floats Represent
ing the Myths of the New world
NEw ORLEANS, Feb IS-The carnival
season was opened last night By the an
nuaI pageant of the Knights of Momus 3.
Two hours before the time announced for
the appearance Of the mystic society the
streets and buildings along the line OF
march were packed by crowd of citizens
and strangers, who eagerly awaited the
appearance Of the god Of merrlment
Shortly before nine O'Clock the cras b OF
music and brilliant Illumination up the
street announced that the procession had
begun, and few minutes later the
first car was visible. Momus chose
for his subject this year the Myths of the
New World" and repeated in tabIeaux
the chief traditions of the American In
dams.
The tableaux were sixteen IN number.
the first Of which, the little car. repre-
sented an ancient Yucatanian Temple.
copied after the architecture of the Mayas.
The structure was pyramidal in form.
rising turret upon turret- The four sides
were covered with statuary and Maya
kieroglyphics, mingled with which were
Roman characters telling the story Of the
procession.
Car No. 2-Picturinga peak of the Rocky
mountains, was occupied by Momus him
self, dressed as the Indian Manitou. the
treat Spirit.''
Car No. 3-The Happy Hunting Grounds.
range of hills sloped to a beautiful
prairie. filled with all kinds Of game,
while within bow-shot were group of In
Gians with arrow-heads drawn to the bow
strings
Car No. HMigissogiyo the Terrible
Magician, seated in his wigwam of gold,
the foundation of which was a rock of
pearl. rising from sea of inky black
ress. filled with all manner of writhing
serpents-
Car No 5-Shawandee, the South Wind,
4 lazy fellow, seated in swing of grape
vines IN tropical bower. and being fam
ned into drowsiness By group of Indian
girls.
Car No. 6-vlracocho. the Supreme
Spirit, briu ging order out of chaos. The
god is rising from the sea, surrounded By
his four newly-created sons, and is in the
act or swinging the sun and moon into
place.
Car No. THE return of MoDtezuma.
The Pablo Indians still believe that their
chief, cruelty murdered by the Spaniards
viii come back 10 rule them, and IN the
tableau he is approaching on a cloud
bank heralded by his faithful warriors.
Car No. S-The departure of Quietzacotl.
the Western Jupiter, after putting the al
fairs Of his people in order This tradi-
tion was fatal to the Aztecs, who hailed
Cortez as the returning god The god
was riding fiery dragon and was accom-
panied by his four sons.
Car No. 9.-Scene from Maya mythology
Bocab. the Indian Atlas. was holding up
the world, while four gods were support
ing the armament. The car was a
magnificent miniature of one Of the Maya
temples recently discovered by De PIon-
geon. 1t was beautifully decorated with
precious stones, and at It's four corners
stood the four gods with their wives, the
horizon resting OF their shoulders
Car No. 10.-Michabo. the great White
Rabbit, great chief Of the A]gonquias and
ruler Of North America The rabbit oc-
cupied a grotto OF icebergs. lit up By the
aurora borealis-
Car No. 1.-THE Temple Of the SuQ. The
great temple AT Cuzc0 was Reproduced as
nearly as possible from the won 1erful
description given bv Pizarro's followers.
above it hung the god OF day, shea ling
brilliant light ove- the structure This
was one of the finest u 0Ieaux ev.r seea
acre,
Car No. 12-Cupay. the Peruvian Purga-
tory. represented as Z cavern OF gloom.
in which the wicked wee not punished,
but left to the purifying effects OF time
before being allowed TO Jccome innabit-
ants Of the sun
Car No. 13-The Aztec Heaven. Around
the sun foated rose-sin1ed cloUd-banks.
filed with fragrant fi3wers and plants,
the souls Of the departed. which. after
Judgment were 20 be taken in the BODY
nf the s1Tn and form part Of the Great
God.
Car No. 14-Hurakin. the Trinity OF the
Quicha legend, who com bined the at
tributes of Jupiter and Neptune. The
three gods were seated on cloud Of inky
blackness. through which darted tongues
of lightning They commanded the wind.
the thunder and the lightning. while above
them beamed the rainbow OF promise
Car No. l3-Ponce de Leon's Fountain of
Youth In the land of brilliant fora, the
life-giving water gushed from rocky
grotto and fell into a sunlit basin. Around
stood the decrepit and old drinking the
golden waters
Car No 16-Manoa, the El Dorado vainly
sought by the Spanish invaders. The
trees were of silver, with leaves of gold.
and even the rain was transformed into
diamonds and other gems as il fell
Altogether the procession was one of
The prettiest ever given here. As its con-
clusion the knights proceeded to the
Eren ch Opera-house. where their guests
had already gathered, and all the charac-
ters in the pageant formed one magnif-
cent tableau on the stage. The grand bali
then began.
1t is one of the events of the season. and
is participated in by the more prominent
citizens and visitors.